Golden Boy(ゴールデンボーイ,Gōruden
Bōi
?) is a Japanese manga series by Tatsuya Egawa about a 25-year-old freeter, pervert, and
"travelling student" named Kintaro Oe (大江錦太郎
Ōe Kintarō). The manga was originally serialized in Shueisha's Super Jump starting
in 1992, with the first collected volume released the following year.
Parts of the manga were adapted into a six episode OVA series produced by Shueisha and KSS in 1995, which was subsequently released
through ADV Films in North America in December
1996. ADV's license of the series expired in 2007, however, and in
November 2007, Media Blasters acquired the license to
it. Media Blasters has confirmed that the dub produced by ADV was
kept.

Kintaro, despite having met the requirements for a degree, left
Tokyo
University without graduating. Golden Boy depicts his
living the life of a free spirit, roaming Japan from town to town,
job to job. During his travels, Kintaro meets several women whose
lives he dramatically changes, despite poor first impressions. He
constantly observes and studies the people and events around him,
recording his findings in a notebook he carries on his belt.

The Golden Boy OVA has been positively received by
English-language reviewers, but it is widely known for its mature
content: while the OVA is not strictly a hentai animation, it does feature instances of
partial female nudity, orgasms, and female masturbation. In
contrast, the manga becomes almost pornographic starting in the
second volume.[1]

Contents

Summary

Each volume and episode of Golden Boy places Kintaro
opposite a young, beautiful woman, whose interest or disdain for
him acts as the conflict of the plot. Some of these women initially
dismiss Kintaro as an idiotic and clumsy pervert, and either give
him or accept from him some challenge to prove their superiority.
Kintaro invariably lusts after these women, but he is principally
driven by his desire to be of actual service to them and to thereby
learn more about the world. Despite his outward appearances,
Kintaro is an incredibly clever and resourceful individual, and
consistently exceeds what the women in his encounters thought
impossible, winning their hearts despite his outward awkwardness.
But due to chance, necessity or a sense of honor, Kintaro never
takes advantage of these newfound feelings.

Kintaro is a freeter, and
has done various jobs as he quests around Japan in pursuit of
knowledge. His ventures include computer programming, housekeeping,
teaching, the culinary arts, and most of all, studying. The series
began with minimal story, and each chapter featured a different
girl and a different challenge for Kintaro to overcome. Later on,
the story follows arcs, such as Kintaro being forced to impersonate
a schoolgirl after catching her shoplifting. Another shows Kintaro
involved in a bizarre plot involving one of his old schoolmates,
and bizarre women who seem to worship him. Kintaro is also often
seen demonstrating the skills he's learned in previous chapters to
overcome challenges faced in the current one.

Much of the humor derives from situational elements, such as
encounters between Kintaro and the women gone awry, and
interactions between Kintaro's libido and imagination. Recurring gags include
Kintaro's fetish for toilets (especially those
recently used by beautiful women), his exaggerated facial
expressions, and comical entries in his notebook. The notebook
entries include explicit drawings of the women he encounters and
bits of wisdom such as "'C' is not sex", and "The human
head cannot turn 360 degrees." Regarding the series, Tatsuya Egawa
writes: "Before leaving kindergarten, I wrote these words in my
notebook: 'I really like to study.' Often I wonder when it was that
our schools forgot the true meaning of 'study.' Something which is
now so often misunderstood by teachers and parents. Learning ought
to be both stimulating and entertaining."[2]

Media
information

In an example of Egawa's style of drawing exaggerated facial
expressions, Kintaro angrily demonstrates damage to his
notebook.

OVA

Adapted by Shueisha and KSS into an animated OVA, Golden Boy was
first released in Japan on VHS and later on laserdisc. Kintaro is voiced by Mitsuo Iwata (and
Doug Smith in English). The closing theme is "Study A Go! Go!" by
Golden Girls. ADV, its North American distributor, first released
the series on six video tapes (English-subtitled and -dubbed versions were sold
separately), but its was later released on two DVDs, later being reissued as part of ADV's
Essential Anime line. The six episodes (which adapt the
first volume of the manga) are as follows:[4]

Kintaro acting out his fetish in "Computer Studies."

"Computer Studies"

Kintaro obtains a janitorial job at an all-woman software firm
led by the Ferrari-driving,
skimpily-clad Madame President (voiced by Hiromi Tsuru and Tiffany Grant). An electrical accident
jeopardizes the firm's future, allowing Kintaro to put his newly
acquired programming skills to the test.

"Temptation of the Maiden"

Working as a campaign staffer for a mayoral candidate, Kintaro
is assigned to tutor his boss' attractive teenaged daughter, Naoko
Katsuda (voiced by Yuko Minaguchi and Allison Keith), who wants more from him
than help with her math homework.

"Danger! The Virgin's First Love"

A car accident has left the owner of a udon restaurant temporarily handicapped, and
Kintaro is helping out and learning the trade. The owner's
daughter, Noriko (voiced by Yuri Shiratori and Kim Sevier) has a well-heeled boyfriend, but
a series of events leads Kintaro to doubt his sincerity.

"Swimming in the Sea of Love"

Kintaro has challenged the local swimming coach (and former Olympic athlete) to
a race, but he first needs to learn how to swim. While training,
however, his situation with the coach, Ayuko Haramizu (voiced by Kikuko Inoue and Sue Ulu) is compromised.

"B@!!$ to the Wall"

Kintaro becomes a servant in a traditional-style mansion of a
wealthy family, but is quickly dismissed. He then challenges the
daughter Reiko Tarayama (voiced by Sakiko Tamagawa and Laura Chapman), who
abhors men and has a fetish for her motorcycle, to a
race.

"Animation is Fun!"

Chie (voiced by Mika
Kanai and Yvonne Aguirre) is a cel-painter at the animation studio where Kintaro
works as an errand-boy. Production difficulties ensue, and Kintaro
must rely on old friends to pull things through. An animated
rendition of Tatsuya Egawa, voiced by the author himself, makes a
cameo appearance in this episode.

Western
reception

The Golden Boy OVA was generally well received by
English-language reviewers. Jeff Ulmer of DigitallyObsessed calls
it "hilarious",[5]
and Luis Cruz of AnimeOnDVD says it is "surprisingly well-written
for an erotic comedy,"[6] and
that it "easily deserves the 'Essential' moniker bestowed upon it"
by ADV. Cruz goes on to say that the series' jokes “feel like a
natural extension of both the characters and the plot...”.[6]
Mike Toole of AnimeJump says “the mixture of realistic storytelling
with Kintaro's deranged personality is always a hoot to watch.”[7]
Of Kintaro himself, Toole says he "has a simple everyman
appeal,”[7]
and Cruz contends that Kintaro's "charming character"[6] is
what makes the anime coherent. In partial contrast, Andrew Sheldon
of AnimeMetaReview criticizes Kintaro's "ability to master any task
in a couple of weeks, when needed, as somewhat patronizing...”.[8]
Reviewers also seem especially pleased with the last episode,
"Animation is Interesting". Toole says that Golden Boy "is
worthwhile for the final episode alone...”,[7]
and Ulmer feels that it "took the cake”.[9]
Sheldon describes it as "an interesting and largely fitting
conclusion",[8] but
feels it is "somewhat self indulgent...".